Breakable
by THOSE stories
Summary: What if Carlisle's diet had a drastic damaging effect on him? How do the people around him react once they find out? (a series of one shots. the first chapter an explaination but please read). R&R. M for mild language (if any). I only own the story.


I sat hand in hand with Alistair, my fingers intertwined in his. We watched my coven and the Cullens race around the clearing. Emmett and jasper were throwing boulders, not directly at each other but so they landed incredibly close to the other person. Kate was in the middle of throwing Alice in the lake. Esme sat with Bella near them, trying not to be splashed. Eleazar and Carmen were up to god knows what in the trees nearby. Edward and Rose were bickering near the forest line. Carlisle and Garrett were sitting side by side close to Emmett and Jasper's madness.

"Our family are a bunch of weirdoes," Alistair stage whispered to me. I giggled, happy to hear him call them 'our' family not 'your family'. He didn't seem to have the same problem excepting it as Garrett did.  
"I know, that's why I love them."  
He chuckled and kissed the back of our fingers. "That's why I love you."  
"Is that an insult or a compliment?" I teased, smiling.  
"Take it any way you want."  
I lent my head on his shoulder, content.

There was a massive splash and a huge wave of water sprayed over us as Emmett lost one of his rocks in the lake. Jasper was in hysterics. Emmett narrowed his eyes, glancing at a boulder bigger than the others. Grinning menacingly, he sauntered over to it and ripped it up of the ground. Jaspers laughter stopped but he still looked amused as he prepared to make a quick escape out from under the massive thing if necessary. We all watched in fascination as he lobbed it toward his friend.

Before it left his grip, something went wrong. He lost his balance and the rock flew with force over to the rock flew off to the side. The world stood still as I realised it headed toward Carlisle and Garrett.  
"MOVE!" Alistair screamed. They both glanced up and saw the threat.

Carlisle shoved Garrett sideways and they both landed in the dust, coughing as they breathed it in.  
"Are you okay?! Are you hurt?!" Garrett yelped, pushing Carlisle off him in panic. Alistair sat tensely, eyes wide.  
"I'm fine, Garrett." He smiled.  
"Are you sure? We landed pretty hard-"  
"Calm down, I'm alright, okay?" Carlisle got to his feet and offered his hand to a stunned Garrett. Slowly he got up. Alistair sighed in relief.

I was confused. That wouldn't have hurt a vampire so I didn't know what they were worried about. Alistair and Garrett still seemed on edge. Carlisle didn't seem fazed.  
"Seriously, I'm fine," he told them.  
"Yeah, okay. I'm just surprised you're not hurt, that's all," Alistair told him, breathing out as if expelling stress.  
"Oh come on, I'm not that breakable!" Carlisle was laughing now. His coven looked confused as I felt. Garrett hugged him, but he wriggled away making him laugh harder. They sat down again as if nothing had happened.

"What…?" I asked Alistair.  
"I'll explain later," he whispered back. I nodded, wondering when later was.

**Alistair POV**

"Is now later?" Tanya asked me as we stood in our bedroom. I tried to keep my grimace on the inside. I had been dreading this conversation.  
"I guess…" I hugged her first, her hair tickling my face. I couldn't believe I could love someone so much.  
"Well..?" She prompted carefully. I took a deep breath then blew it out again.  
"Okay, um," I paused to think where to begin. "Okay…" I sat on the bed, hoping she would sit next to me. She did so I stole her hand again. "I guess it just gave me and Garrett a fright because we've seen him hurt so many times before." I tried to push the memories down.  
"Sweetie, that wouldn't have hurt him though. He wasn't even on the bottom, Garrett was." Her tone was gentle but I could tell she was confused.  
"Yeah but, Carlisle's…different." She looked at me with her eye brows raised and I couldn't help but laugh. I tried to think how to rephrase my explanation. "He's…breakable."  
"What?" I just intensified the confusion. I knew I had to start from the beginning.  
"Because of his diet…Because Carlisle has never fed on human blood he gets sick a lot easier and it doesn't take much for him to break a bone so when he fell we thought maybe he was hurt again and I just – I just didn't want him to go through that again…" I couldn't stop the memories now.

The look of pain on his face as he slipped. The sickening crunch and then the yelp when he moved wrongly. The blood. The weight loss. Him spending entire days slumped next to a toilet bowl unable to keep anything down or hiding in darkness because the light hurt. The fainting every time he stood too quickly. The endless bruises from every knock and bump. All the hours spent in the hospital in Italy. The guaranteed sickness from absolutely anything possible. The depression that followed it all.  
Worst of all was the car crash, the impact of it crushing bones, damaging internal organs, the weeks spent by a constant beeping monitor.

"Hey…" Tanya pulled me back to the present. "He's fine, he told you that."  
"Yes but he's good at hiding things. He shattered his ankle once and Garrett was living with him at the time and it took us a week to even find out something was wrong. Even then he passed it off as a sprain."  
"But would he really get seriously hurt from something as small as that?" she seemed curious.  
I nodded. "He has before." I shuddered.  
"He's fine, love. Everything's okay." She hugged me again and I was grateful for it.

"Totally not hiding anything," Carlisle grinned at us, leaning against the doorframe.  
"You still scared the shit out of me."  
Carlisle rolled his eyes. "You really have to stop mothering me, it's unhealthy."  
"I wouldn't have to if you would just be careful!"  
"I didn't do anything!" he defended himself. Alistair just shook his head before hugging him. Or attempting to anyway. "Get off me!" He tried to squirm away. "It's weird and uncomfortable."  
"Please? Just let me hug you," he whined.  
"No!"  
"Please?"  
"Nope. Alistair, I love you, but I beg you, please don't touch me…"  
Alistair laughed and glanced at me as if to say 'that's a whole other issue'. "Okay, but Esme won't be happy."  
Carlisle went to walk away but suddenly turned to face us again. Alistair had his back to him. Carlisle came back in and wrapped his arms around him. I found the gesture kind of sweet seeming as neither of them liked people that much.  
"Thank you," he murmured quietly to him before disappearing again.

Read and review please :) In the next chapter/story i'll probably use one of Alistair's memories, i think. Or something else if someone suggests it.


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